The EUR is the strongest and the AUD is the weakest as North American trading begins | Forexlive

The EUR is the strongest and the AUD is the weakest as the NA session begins. The USD is mixed to lower with declines vs the EUR and GBP leading the way. The EURUSD and the GBPUSD have erased most of the declines (higher USD) seen during yesterday’s trading as the ups and downs continues.

In Europe today:

German GfK Consumer Climate: -25.7, an improvement from the previous -29.3 and better than the expected -28.0.
Swiss Credit Suisse Economic Expectations: -33.3, showing an improvement from the previous -41.3.
UK CBI Realized Sales: 5, better than the expected 4 and a slight improvement from the previous 1.

In Australia, the quarterly CPI showed declines in YoY inflation to 6.3% from 6.8% last quarter and lower than the expectations of 6.5%. The QoQ was higher however at 1.4% vs 1.3%. The trimmed mean was lower at 1.2% vs 1.4%.

U.S. stocks are expected to open mixed on Tuesday, with Nasdaq showing strength due to positive Q1 earnings reports from Microsoft and Alphabet (although Alphabet shares are trading marginally lower). The gains reverse losses from yesterday when the major indices all moved lower due to concerns in the banking sector. First Republic shares fell nearly 50% as their deposit base shrunk more than expectations (-$100 billion).

Shares of Microsoft were up more than 8% but is trading up around 7.5% after UK regulars block the Activision deal. Investors will be closely watching upcoming earnings reports (after the close) from companies like Meta Platforms, and ServiceNow.

Earnings this morning shows:

Boeing announced EPS of $-1.27 versus expected $-1.07 with revenues of 17.92 billion versus 17.57 billion expected. They did announce that they would raise 737 production rate from 31 to 38 later this year. Expectations going forward has helped to push Boeing shares higher. The shares are trading at $210.40 after closing at $202.19.
Boston Scientific at a beat on EPS and revenues. Shares are trading at $53.86 after closing at $51.11
Hilton Worldwide also beat on top and bottom lines. There shares are trading marginally higher at $146.50 after closing at $146.33 yesterday

Oil prices are trading marginally lower, erasing earlier gains after higher than expected private inventory data at the end of trading yesterday.

U.S. crude oil stocks: Fell by -6.1 million barrels in the week ended April 21, significantly more than the analysts’ expectation of a 1.5 million barrel drawdown.
Gasoline inventories: Fell by 1.9 million barrels last week, versus expectations of a -0.933 million
Distillate inventories: Rose by 1.7 million barrels last week, versus expectations of -0.839 million

Despite the positive (for prices) inventory data (the EIA data will be released at 10:30 AM ET), concerns about a possible U.S. recession and potential interest rate hikes by central banks weighed on the market. U.S. consumer confidence reached a nine-month low in April, increasing the risk of an economic downturn. Investors are worried that rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the European Central Bank could slow economic growth and reduce energy demand.

US yields are marginal higher after sharp declines yesterday.

On the economic calendar today, March’s U.S. durable goods orders are expected to show a 0.7% increase, while the Federal Reserve is likely to raise rates by 25 basis points next week. The advanced good trade balance for March will also be released along with wholesale and retail inventories. All will be released at 8:30 AM.

A snapshot of markets currently shows:

Spot gold is trading down $0.50 or -0.03% at $1996
Spot silver is unchanged $25.01
WTI crude oil is down $0.11 or -0.10% at $76.96
Bitcoin is trading higher at $29,046

In the premarket for US stocks:

Dow Industrial Average is up 32.17 points after tumbling 344.57 points yesterday
S&P futures is up 0.72 points after yesterday’s -65.41 point decline
NASDAQ index is leading the way with a gain of 111 points after yesterday’s -238.05 decline

in the European equity markets, the major indices are also lower: